VANCOUVER, Dec. 19, 2013 /CNW/ - Unifor, Canada's largest union in the energy sector, says the National Energy Board is out of touch with Canadians.

"In spite of overwhelming opposition from Canadians, the National Energy Board has opted to approve the Northern Gateway Project," said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. "The NEB has shown just how out of touch it is with Canadians. It is once again ignoring very valid concerns."

Dias said that the conditions attached to approval of the project fail to address key problems- such as the massive export of raw bitumen, and with it 25,000 jobs if processing was done in Canada.

Scott Doherty, Unifor Western Regional Director voiced his concern for what the pipelines will mean for the region. "The export pipeline clearly demonstrates the unsustainable pace of development," said Doherty. "Add to that the lack of desire or leadership by the government to deal with this looming issue."

"Never in its history has the NEB rejected a pipeline proposal," said Doherty. "If it was ever going to do it -it should have been this time. First Nations groups, residents of both provinces, environmental groups, labour unions and many others roundly opposed this project."

Unifor represents more than 20,000 energy workers across Canada, including in the Alberta bitumen sands. Across the country, the union represents more than 300,000 members in 20 different economic sectors. Unifor was this past Labour Day weekend, by the joining together of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union and the Canadian Auto Workers union.

The advent of
new hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) technologies has dramatically altered
the economic and environmental effects of the petroleum industry in recent
years – around the world, but especially in North America.

Fracking
technology relies on the high-pressure injection of a mixture of water and
chemicals into numerous drilled wells, in order to fracture geological
formations and allow the release of larger quantities of both crude oil and
natural gas. This allows the profitable production of petroleum reserves
located in “tight” rock formations (including shale) which were formerly
unfeasible. The dramatic expansion of fracking in certain regions of the U.S.
(including North Dakota, Texas, and elsewhere) over the last decade has had
enormous implications for energy markets, and the environment. Profit-hungry
companies are now eyeing other potential fracking regions for similar expansion
– including many parts of Canada.

·Various
types of fracturing technology have been used in the petroleum industry for
decades. The new generations of the technology, however, have raised
substantial environmental concerns, including:

·Frightening
pollution of water sources (as fracking chemicals and released methane seep
into ground and underground water sources).

·Large
emissions of greenhouse gases (including wasted flared gas, and large emissions
of released methane – which is 25 times more powerful in raising global
temperatures than carbon dioxide).

·Large
emissions of greenhouse gases (including wasted flared gas, and large emissions
of released methane – which is 25 times more powerful in raising global
temperatures than carbon dioxide).

·Unpredictable
impacts of pressure injection on the stability of rock formations and land
surfaces (causing earthquakes and other damage in many locations).

·Destruction
of surface land through intensive drilling, road construction, and
infrastructure (since wells in fracked petroleum fields must be much closer
together than in conventional fields).

The fracking
boom in places like North Dakota has led to a rapid expansion of U.S. oil and
gas production. However, evidence is mounting that this new production will be
short-lived: fracked wells tend to deplete much more quickly than conventional
wells. Safety issues related to fracking are also troubling,
including questionable health and safety conditions for workers toiling under
haphazard, gold-rush-like conditions. Investigators now believe that the unique
explosive properties of fracked oil played a role in the horrible Lac Mégantic
tragedy in Québec this summer (the train was carrying fracked crude oil from
North Dakota).

The expansion of fracking has also had dramatic and damaging
economic consequences, too. The sudden surge of new U.S. supplies into the
market has driven continental natural gas prices to historic lows. It has also
displaced normal flows of energy. For example, Canada now imports significant
quantities of fracked gas from the U.S., disrupting traditional gas flows from
Western Canada and undermining the economics of our major east-west gas
pipeline system. This surge of fracked oil and gas supplies is not likely to
last; it would be folly for Canada to reorient our entire energy infrastructure
around a short-term surge in a clearly unsustainable energy supply.

Another very troubling dimension of the fracking industry, in
Canada and elsewhere, is its impact on relations with First Nations peoples. Of
course, any resource extraction industry in Canada must confront the problem of
unresolved aboriginal land claims, and the inadequate economic benefits
(including employment opportunities) which have been offered to First Nations
communities from resource developments. This problem is especially acute with
fracking because of the widespread land which would be affected by the
activity, and the heated, profit-hungry rush which the industry is set to
quickly unleash. First Nations activists in New Brunswick and elsewhere are
highlighting, with determination and passion, their insistence that no resource
exploration or extraction can occur on their lands without full informed
consent and a generous sharing of the economic benefits.

Many Canadians share these concerns with the potential
economic, social, and environmental damage of an unregulated fracking industry.
Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador have both imposed a moratorium on new
fracking exploration. Other provinces and regions are also now investigating
the risks and effects of fracking.

For all these reasons, the National Executive Board of Unifor
supports a Canada-wide moratorium on unconventional fracking activity. This
moratorium should stay in place until such time as the safety and environmental
risks associated with fracking have been adequately addressed, and until First
Nations communities have given full informed consent for fracking activity on
their traditional lands. We express our solidarity with non-violent efforts by
First Nations communities to assert their title and resist new fracking
activity in their lands. And we renew our call for a national energy and
environmental strategy, that would utilize Canada’s extensive resources of
conventional petroleum and natural gas to meet our energy needs and support
value-added industries in Canada. Instead of being guided by short-term swings
in prices and profits for private energy producers, Canada’s federal and
provincial governments must develop and implement (in cooperation with other
stakeholders) a national plan for a stable, sustainable energy industry that
respects our social and environmental commitments, and generates lasting wealth
for all who live here. As one of its first priorities, Unifor’s new Energy
Council will work to develop and communicate Unifor’s vision for such a
national energy and environmental strategy.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Last year thousands joined a sit-in in Victoria against the Northern Gateway pipeline. As Susan Spratt, organizer for what was then the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) said, “The ongoing risks that these tar sands pipelines and tankers pose aren’t worth any price. Read More by clicking on the picture below.